EUGENE, Ore. — Seattle U baseball dropped a heartbreaker in the series opener with Oregon on Thursday, succumbing to a 4-3 decision as the Ducks rallied late.
The Redhawks (2-2) opened the afternoon on the front foot as Austin Lively had a lead-off triple in the first, but did score as the result of a fielder's choice. Three batters later, Matt Boissoneault put Seattle U on the board with a RBI-double to center.
Held scoreless for the next two frames, the Redhawk bats awoke in the fourth with back-to-back singles from Connor O'Brien and Julian Kodama. The duo was then pushed across with a double by Justin Mazzone, giving SU a 3-0 advantage. With the two-base knock, Mazzone registered his 100th career hit, becoming the 22nd Redhawk to reach the century mark.
The SU bats then went cold as it went 3-for-16 over the next five innings. Gavin Rork singled in the fifth and recorded his first-career triple in seventh. O'Brien filled out the balance with a lead-off single in the sixth.
In the ninth, a costly Redhawk error and lapse of judgment allowed Oregon to load the bases. With momentum on their side the Ducks rallied and plated four runs to escape.
The Redhawks were outhit, 10-8, and left five runners stranded including four in scoring position.
On the mound, reliever Peter Chronowski (0.1 IP) was charged with the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. Alex McBee was strong in his first start, tossing five-scoreless innings and scattering four hits. Riley Sinclair was solid his collegiate-debut, putting together three-scoreless frames, allowing three hits. Brady Liddle (0.1 IP) also made a relief appearance as he surrendered two runs on one hit.
"It was a tough way to lose tonight," said Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel. "Soreness from the short turnaround with Portland limited some of our options, so we tried to match up late but could not make the plays that should have."
"I though our pitcher deal well tonight," Harrel added. "McBee was outstanding in his start and Sinclair pitched really well in his first outing. Overall we need to learn from this and I know it will make us a better team down the road."
The Redhawks will look to bounce back tomorrow as they resume the series. First pitch of game two is scheduled for 4 pm.